Too rooted in ideology to acknowledge benefits of in-state tuition program

Erick Dominquez, left, and Jesus Trevino, both of Houston, were two of several college students who wore graduation gowns and caps as they gathered at the Capitol on April 6 to testify against Senate Bill 1819. The legislation would repeal a 2001 state law that lets the children of some people living in Texas illegally pay in-state tuition at public universities and colleges. (RODOLFO GONZALEZ / AMERICAN-STATESMAN)

It’s unknown when the Senate will take up the measure, or what its ultimate legislative fate will be, given that Republican House Speaker Joe Straus of San Antonio supports the in-state tuition program.

Viewpoints expressed support for the 2001 law in an editorial printed Thursday. A 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling legally obligates Texas to educate the children of undocumented immigrants in its public schools. To then deny any of those students who want to pursue a college education the opportunity to do so at residential rates when they have lived here for years is to waste the public money the state already has invested in their education and potential. Providing in-state college tuition to undocumented students, who are practical residents of the state, if not legal ones, is a beneficial extension of the court ruling that opened the doors of Texas’ public schools to those children more than 30 years ago.

I emphasized the word “pay” in the first paragraph because the 24,770 students who qualified for the in-state tuition program in 2013 paid $51.6 million in tuition and fees to Texas universities and colleges. In other words, the 2001 law does not represent a free ride to a college education. It is an earned ride, available to undocumented Texas high school graduates who have lived in the state at least three years and who must work toward becoming legal residents while in school.

But the ideologically committed — like Republican state Sen. Donna Campbell of New Braunfels, who sponsors the repeal legislation, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presides over the Texas Senate — have no interest in facts or appeals to compassion when it comes to educating children who are in Texas illegally through no fault of their own. Their hardline views on immigration will not bend, no matter how sensible or pragmatic an immigration-related policy might be, or how much it benefits the state’s economy.

Margaret Moran, national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, sent Viewpoints the following commentary in which she addresses the possible repeal of the 2001 law, generally known as the Texas Dream Act:

Under the guise of putting Texas kids first, lawmakers are proposing legislation that would reverse the state’s landmark Dream Act. Currently, the law allows undocumented students, who meet certain requirements, to receive in-state college tuition benefits. Those who support repealing the law have made claims that undocumented students are a burden on the Texas economy, and have argued that the law encourages illegal immigration.

These arguments have no basis in fact and only serve to justify the discrimination of undocumented students. Thus it is not surprising that supporters of the bill have not been able to convince key stakeholders to support these arguments. During the bill’s initial committee hearing, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, Steven McCraw, who is charged with preventing illegal immigration, could not link increased illegal immigration to the Texas Dream Act or any other Texas statute. In addition, Raymund Paredes, a commissioner on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board contested the claim that the law is an incentive for illegal crossings.

The economic argument for repealing the law also has been refuted. According to the Center for Public Policy Priorities, the Texas Dream Act has benefited nearly 25,000 students, representing only 1.9 percent of all Texas students that paid in-state tuition in 2013. The economic burden claimed by those who would repeal the law is in actuality a $51.6 million gain. That amount represents the tuition and fees paid by undocumented students in 2013.

In the minds of the supporters of the law, denying undocumented Texas kids the benefit of a college education is somehow putting Texas kids first. Although these kids may have been born elsewhere, they have lived the majority of their lives in Texas and claim Texas as their home. These kids consider themselves every bit as Texan as any other Texas child. They have attended the same Texas public schools, and have dedicated the same time to their studies as other Texas kids. The notion that they are not Texan because of their immigration status is absurd and makes a mockery of everything Texas stands for. The only thing that the proposed legislation would create is a class of non-educated people whose talents would go wasted and their potential unrealized. How is this putting Texas kids first?

If you were to ask any one of these kids if the law’s passage would somehow make them feel less of a Texan, it is without question that they would respond, no ma’am.

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